The Morning Briefing: October 11, 2026

Good morning. A Houthi missile strike on Riyadh’s international airport has killed 12 people and drawn the United States toward direct military involvement, President Trump has struck a diesel deal with Vladimir Putin that upends years of sanctions policy, and Georgia has toppled Alabama in a Saturday night thriller. Here is what you need to know for Sunday, October 11, 2026.

Houthi missile attack on Riyadh airport kills 12, wounds 309

Yemen’s Houthi militants struck Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport with a missile on Saturday, killing 12 people and wounding 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. The dead included four Saudis and eight foreign nationals — two Bangladeshis and one person each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. It was the third missile strike on the airport this week; a Thursday attack killed three people and destroyed a passenger jet on the tarmac.

President Donald Trump said he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attacks, saying the U.S. stands with the kingdom. The airport was closed until at least late Sunday with more than 600 flights cancelled, schools across Riyadh switched to remote learning for a week, and several countries warned their citizens against using the airport. The strike is the deadliest on a Gulf Arab country since the start of the Iran war in February. Read our report on the American killed in the attack and our earlier account of the week’s third strike.

Trump strikes diesel deal with Putin, reversing sanctions pressure

President Donald Trump said Friday he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow to supply millions of tons of diesel fuel to American and global markets — an extraordinary reversal of U.S. sanctions policy aimed at lowering fuel prices less than a month before the November 3 midterms. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Russia would deliver 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons after that, followed by 3 million more tons depending on the condition of Russia’s refineries. The Treasury Department issued a temporary license authorizing Russian diesel transactions through April 7, 2027.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the deal in unusually blunt terms, calling it a “weak decision” and “an investment in a war that must be ended.” The Kremlin said the 90-minute call focused mostly on ending the war in Ukraine, while negotiators from the U.S., Ukraine and European countries met in Miami on Friday to work on a unified peace proposal. Read our report on Zelenskyy’s reaction.

No. 2 Georgia topples No. 6 Alabama 20-17, stakes claim to No. 1

No. 2 Georgia is likely headed for the top spot in the AP Top 25 after a 20-17 win at No. 6 Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, combined with No. 1 Texas’s 27-24 loss to Oklahoma earlier in the day. Dwight Phillips Jr. ran for 120 yards and Gunnar Stockton accounted for both Georgia touchdowns — one passing, one rushing — as the Bulldogs won a regular-season game at Alabama for the first time since 2007.

The finish was controversial: SEC officials declined to flag Georgia safety KJ Bolden for an apparent pass-interference penalty in the end zone late in the fourth quarter; Bolden sacked Keelon Russell on the next play to force a punt, and an Alabama personal foul then allowed Georgia to run out the clock. President Trump, who had planned to attend, decided not to as Hurricane Isaias pushed inland. Read our report on the Oklahoma-Texas upset.

Magnitude 7.7 earthquake and strong aftershock rock Panama

Two powerful earthquakes — magnitude 7.7 and 6.6 — roiled southern Panama on Friday afternoon, collapsing buildings near the epicenter and prompting evacuations across the country, the Associated Press reported. The USGS initially estimated the first quake at magnitude 8 before revising it to 7.6 and then 7.7; the epicenter was about 10 kilometers southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers.

A tsunami threat issued for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala was later cancelled. More than 45 aftershocks were recorded, Tocumen International Airport temporarily suspended operations for safety checks, and the Chilibre water treatment plant was operating at just 20 percent of its capacity, according to the Panamanian government. No fatalities had been reported as of Saturday.

Israeli strikes kill five in Gaza on ceasefire’s anniversary

Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday, according to medics cited by Reuters, in two attacks in Gaza City that the Israeli military said targeted militants. The strikes came on the anniversary of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreed last October, which both sides accuse the other of violating.

Gaza health officials say at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce was agreed; Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period. Israel has stepped up strikes in recent weeks, saying Hamas has been rearming and carrying out attacks — a charge Hamas denies — and little progress has been made on the ceasefire’s longer-term terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw.

Markets brace for CPI week as oil retreats, sentiment sours

Markets head into a pivotal week with September inflation data due Wednesday. President Trump ruled out military strikes against Iran before the midterm elections, helping oil retreat from recent highs: Brent crude closed the week near $104 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate around $92, while diesel futures fell about 3 percent after the Russia deal. The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent on Friday and gold held near $4,194 an ounce.

The mood among households is souring, though: the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 46.3 in early October, near a record low, with one-year inflation expectations ticking up to 4.7 percent. Consensus sees Wednesday’s CPI at about 3.6 percent year over year; a hotter print would complicate the Federal Reserve’s October 27-28 meeting. Read our coverage of the sentiment drop and the emergency fuel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN, USA Today and the National Hurricane Center. The Morning Briefing is published each weekday by US News America.